In the U.S., a motor vehicle is stolen every 26 seconds from consumers and dealers, representing billions of dollars in property loss. With a clear opportunity to bring to market a theft recovery and tracking solution, SouthWest Dealer Services (SWDS) sought a digital, turnkey solution that would protect the dealerships’ inventory and at the same time offer a valuable add-on for the customer, explains Mike Marett, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Numerex , a provider of GSM, CDMA cellular and satellite wireless technologies.

Wireless application benefits realized

-Reduced theft to zero.-Decreased installation time more than 30%, with an expected increase to 40% within three months.-Sales are projected to increase by 400% with preloading and asset protection benefits.

SWDS , whose 800 employees in 12 offices work with more than 1,000 dealerships, needed a robust solution that could incorporate a preload capability available to the dealerships, eliminate car thefts from the car lot, decrease installation time, and increase sales of the theft recovery solution. SWDS is headquartered in Irvine, CA.Marett gave the following details about the SWDS application and wireless implementation, which has many of the same ruggedness– SWDS sought a digital, reliable, and secure vehicle location and tracking .t tracking capabilities across a GSM network. SWDS can offer to preload the device, and then dealership personnel can manage and protect inventory from the Web using photographic, satellite and traditional road images.-Mapping, supply chain management, network activation, and account management capabilities along with private-labeled customer service applications and support, nationwide training programs, value-added services such as “Dealer Lot Protection” and e-commerce capabilities are available.– KARR Track can be integrated with a vehicle’s existing alarm system or operated by itself. If used with the car’s alarm system, built-in motion detectors or a user-defined “geo-fence” is triggered. The module then wirelessly transmits a theft alert notification over the network to the dealer and to the vehicle’s owner via wireless phone, e-mail, or pager. The location, notification and disablement process improves the prospect of vehicle recovery and shortens the time for recovery.– KARR TrackLot Protection gives a lot manager alarm protection and tracking capability for all inventory, allowing dealerships to use geofencing and “night owl” applications. It also can track any vehicle without triggering the alarm system, and reduces vandalism by sending an alarm when a motion sensor is tripped.Marett says the application reduced– Edited by Mark T. Hoske , editor in chiefControl Engineering System Integration eNewsletterRegister here and scroll down to select your choice of eNewsletters free .